As much as the myth adheres to the Berlin Secession of being the birthplace of “Classical Modernism” in Germany, it is, likewise, a relatively little researched subject. As a matter of fact, neither its date of foundation nor its dissolution has been established so far. The best known protagonists of the Berlin Secession were Max Liebermann, Walter Leistikow, Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt and their merit was to bring Impressionism to Germany in the years heavy with imperial, representational subjects and, thus, to begin a new era for art in Germany. With the dissolution of the Secession in the Spring of 1913, however, the role seemed exhausted after a splendid dozen years.

About the time of the Berlin Secession after 1913 little is known. In her study, Anke Matelowski now closes this gap. From largely unknown sources, she has been able to establish the founding history of the Secession as well as the years of the First World War, the Weimar Republic until the time of National Socialism. Great detail is paid to the various aspects of this history: the exhibitions, membership structure, buildings and premises available to the association, its relationship with local authorities and towards official art policies, cooperations with other artists’ associations, strategies for coping with political and economic crises, etc.

Matelowski supplements her account with extensive lists, which provide reliable data about members, board members and exhibitions for the first time. Similarly, she provides information about the groupings that split from, competed or co-operated with the Secession. The work sets a new standard for the most important modernist art association in modern Germany.

It is estimated that 20 per cent of Europe’s cultural treasures were stolen or plundered by Nazi Germany, most notably from Jewish families, and over 100,000 of these works are still lost, presumed to be in both public and private collections.

70 Years and Counting: The Final Opportunity? will focus on efforts to identify and return works of art lost during the Nazi-era and particularly on how efforts in this area can be accelerated at this late date. The issue is an international one and international cooperation is essential for the achievement of the goal of providing fair and just solutions.

The Washington Principles provide the framework for each stage of the process, from provenance research and its publication, to access to records, to the provision of national claims processes and fair and just solutions. Provenance research is crucial to the process, as is the ability to locate the substantive evidence of the loss and disposal of objects, without both of which national claims panels will be limited in their range and impact.

Without adequate claims processes, justice will remain unavailable in many places or restricted to those few who seek it through the courts. For the existing national claims processes and committees, the questions they encounter as time progresses become ever more critical and central to upholding the very commitment by the international community to provide justice, however difficult that may be and however long that may take.

The Conference will take stock of achievements and explore the current dilemmas and issues faced by those working in each of these essential areas, concluding with a series of recommendations for accelerating progress. The main sessions of the Conference will consist of panel discussions on key themes, following each of which there will be an opportunity for questions from the audience.

70 Years and Counting: The Final Opportunity? Is sponsored by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe.

The Panel will consider how effective the existing claims processes are for works of art in both public and private collections, the difficulties of making claims in countries that do not have national claims processes or a commitment to return and the role that governments, panels and researchers already play or could play in the provision of justice. It will look at the usefulness of existing provenance research and its publication, consider the challenges faced by claimants in locating missing works of art and accessing records, and explore the contribution and response of museums, art experts and the art trade.

The Panel will consider the national processes in place across Europe for resolving claims and will look at their success, impartiality and effectiveness. It will look at the emergence of different rulings on the same case in different countries, whether the wishes of museums to keep works of art should be taken into account and the existing barriers to progress. The Panel will consider a wide range of questions including the following. Is there greater scope for information sharing and collaboration between the committees and how should the issue of claims and the passage of time be resolved? Is time limitation part of a fair and just solution and should claimants of the second and third generations or unrelated heirs have lesser rights to recover lost works of art? This session will also report on discussions from the previous day between the committees of the UK, Austria, France, Germany and The Netherlands.

The Panel will look at what progress has been made in undertaking and publishing provenance research and in identifying and providing access to museum, art trade, archival and other records. It will discuss the information that is already publicly available and whether its publication is effective, timely and clear, the records that remain inaccessible and what more can be done to publish both works of art and essential records. The Panel will consider what barriers exist to information sharing and accessibility and how these might be overcome.

The Panel will consider the issue of looted works in private collections including how private collectors can protect themselves from buying looted art, where they can go for advice and how they can be encouraged to research their collections and reach equitable solutions. The Panel will also discuss the difficulties for claimants in finding works in private collections and how they might seek to recover them, and explore the role of national claims processes and others in providing guidance and fair and just solutions.

4.30pm Refreshments

5.15pm Session 5: The Way ForwardTony Baumgartner, Deputy Chair of the Spoliation Advisory Panel and Partner at Clyde & Co, will review and summarise the day, noting the conclusions and recommendations reached by each panel and will propose how these might be taken forward in fulfilment of the aims and objectives of the Conference.

The first German/American Provenance Research Exchange Program (PREP), which brings together museum and research-institute professionals from both countries who specialize in Holocaust-era provenance projects, was hosted by The Met February 6 to 10. Among the program’s highlights was a panel discussion on February 10 that was open to the public and introduced by Director Thomas Campbell. Panelists included The Met’s Sharon Cott, Senior Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel, and other figures who support provenance research.

PREP is a pioneering three-year program that gathers 21 German and American grant recipients, the Steering Committee members, and guest speakers twice a year to compare methodologies, ascertain resources, and network among experts. The week-long program at The Met was the first of six systematic exchanges; it will be followed by Berlin in the fall, Los Angeles and Munich in 2018, and Washington, D.C., and Dresden in 2019. Christel Force, Associate Research Curator, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, is on the Steering Committee and worked with Rebecca Noonan Murray, Special Counsel, Office of the Senior Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel, to host the group here at The Met.

PREP is organized by the Smithsonian Provenance Research Initiative, Washington, D.C., and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, and four partner institutions: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; the Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden; and the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich. The new Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste, Magdeburg, is a consultative participant in the program.

PREP New York’s concluding panel discussion, titled “German/ American Exchange on Nazi-Era Provenance Research: A Discussion with Museum Leaders,” was held in the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall. In addition to Sharon, the speakers were Lynn Nicholas, independent scholar and author of The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War; Hermann Parzinger, President, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Richard Kurin, Acting Provost and Under Secretary for Museums and Research, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; and Thomas W. Gaehtgens, Director, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

Major support for PREP comes from the German Program for Transatlantic Encounters, financed by the European Recovery Program, and the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

This thesis aims to investigate the market dynamics of paintings in Venice of the sixteenth century, understood as a demand and supply phenomenon where the object at the center of the exchange is the un-commissioned painting. By assuming the uniqueness and importance of the context, the work is organized following the logic of the “life” of the painting, therefore from its production, sale and finally its purchase. The first part examines the Guild of the Painters, production regulations (with the most common illicitities) and workshops …

CFP: Urban Walking – The Flâneur as an Icon of Metropolitan Culture in Literature and Other Media – Jena 03/18

Since Walter Benjamin’s ground-breaking investigation into the Parisian flâneur of the nineteenth century, the practises of the peripatetic observer of city life have informed literary, cultural, and sociological studies of urban life. As a seismograph of the metropolis, walking through the city, observing and describing the urban environment, the flâneur reflects the dynamics and effects of modern city life, such as the encounter with anonymous crowds and modern mass culture or the significance of evanescent impressions and perceptions in a fashion that has eschewed a theoretical consensus so far. Continue reading “CFP: Urban Walking – The Flâneur as an Icon of Metropolitan Culture (Jena, March 2018)”→

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